Stuck
by DragonPhoenix18
Summary: What if Peril ran away from Scarlet? And while hunting, got stuck in a hole that happens to be the Dragonets' only window to the outside world. Thank goodness Clay finds her first. Clay/Peril!
1. Chapter 1

Stuck Chapter 1

Peril flew.

Her Majesty had pushed her too far this time. She was leaving the palace for good, or so she told herself. Peril had escaped the Sky Palace at night several times before to think, cry, train, and to simply fly. To get out of the claustrophobic arena was worth the risk of her Queen's wrath. The mountains gave Peril so much marvel. They were so unstoppable and strong, unlike the many lives she took. And that was why Peril was leaving now, she though she was okay with being a killer, though that that was what she was eternally darned to do, but she just couldn't do it anymore.

 _Earlier that day, she and Scarlet were walking around the royal hatchery, Peril feeling particularly uncomfortable. She had never been in the hatchery because of her, well,_ issues _. The thought of accidentally murdering an unborn dragonet made her cringe, even when she was being trained to kill on a daily basis. Peril had tip-taloned through the narrow stone pathways between the nests of fragile eggs, careful not to touch the hay and grass._ Why would she bring me here _, she thought,_ isn't she worried about me hurting her future heirs _. Queen Scarlet looked around the hatchery, narrowing her eyes until she found her target._

 _"Ah" She said, "Here's the one"_

 _Peril's eyes followed Her Majesty's talon and saw a small yellow-orange egg with a crack down the center; it was also shaking dangerously, about to hatch._

 _"I have a sneaking suspicion..." Scarlet muttered, but Peril was barely listening, she was staring in awe at the beginning of new life. The egg split and broke into a thousand pieces, revealing a tiny, slimy, amber colored dragonet. But after a moment of gazing at the cute creature, Peril noticed something terribly wrong. The dragonet was missing its right foreleg, a stump in its place._

 _"Hmmm as I assumed...a shame really", the Queen said, with fake remorse._

 _The little dragon ignored the heartless comment, as did Peril, and took in their surroundings with huge grey eyes, landing them on Peril, and blinked once. The three year old SkyWing found it absolutely adorable._

 _She couldn't stand it anymore, "Oh, my queen", she exclaimed softly. "What will you name her?"_

 _Scarlet barked a laugh "Three Moons, no! This deformity wouldn't last a day as a SkyWing princess. Were you not wondering why I brought you here, Peril dear? I don't want to get my hands dirty, you kill it."_

The young champion shuddered, she had not killed the little dragonet and for that she felt mixed emotions: a strange pride, shame, and most importantly, guilt at not taking the tiny princess with her. Surely now Scarlet would make some soldier kill her, or eventually do it herself. _Or_ , she thought to herself, _she will find me, drag me back to the palace, and make me kill her._ Right after the statement from Scarlet, Peril had panicked.She jumped over the nests, through the long and open window, and was now on her route to...nowhere.

She had been flying for several hours and night had fallen, when she remembered: _my black rocks!_ Peril groaned, how could she have forgotten?! This was bad, Her Majesty had told her that she would die without the rocks. Peril was unsure, she felt fine, for now, but landed to think more on the stressful matter. Just then, her stomach growled loudly and she realized that she hadn't eaten since that morning. _Well I can't think on an empty stomach_ , she thought and sniffed the air for nearby prey.

Clay watched.

He watched their only window to the open world with huge eyes, wondering if he would see her tonight. All the torches were out so the countless stars and two full moons were the only light source. For the past year, Clay had been watching the strange SkyWing, trying to get up the courage to call out and meet her. But every time he told himself he would talk, he saw her beautiful blue eyes flash in the moonlight and fell speechless. When Webs taught the Dragonets about SkyWings, he described them as heartless creatures with eyes like fire or ash. However, the mystery dragonet seemed to be packed full of emotions, she seemed to fly around the mountains to cope and sometimes she seemed so sad that Clay wished beyond words he was there to comfort her.

 _Tonight_ , he vowed, _if she comes you are talking to her._

And all of a sudden, Clay witnessed a terrified groundhog scurry through the Sky Hole and scramble behind one of the bookshelves. Although, it was soon followed by something much bigger.

"RESISTANCE IS FUTILE VERMIN!" A voice screamed, "I AM COLD AND HUNGY AND-" The corridor was thrown into almost complete darkness. A frustrated grunt sounded from the feminine voice above. Clay squinted towards the sound and as his eyes finally adjusted to the dark, he could make out none other than the mystery SkyWing's head, neck, and forearms hanging out of the Sky Hole. _Well I suppose now I don't have a choice._ She was stuck.


	2. Chapter 2

Stuck Chapter 2

Peril thrashed and flailed but to no avail, she was hopelessly trapped in an underground, pitch black room. _Oh wait_. Peril scolded herself and chuckled a bit. She breathed out the smallest flame she could muster, but unfortunately, it was still a big fire. In the light, Peril saw that the corridor seemed to be a sort of library and the scrolls strewn across the floor began to catch fire from the blast.

"Oh no", a high and young voice groaned from below Peril's left. She jerked her head around, summoning an attack blast, but saw a small MudWing that looked far less than threatening. In fact, he looked awkward and a little cute when he waddled over to a torch on the wall, trying frantically to light it up, then to the burning scrolls, trying in vain to put them out. _Wait...what? Scrolls, a library, and, perhaps most odd, a_ MudWing _? Underground? What is going on here? Does Scarlet know about this?_

TheMudWing groaned again, "Starflight is going to kill me". He then looked up at Peril and took a deep breath, trying to take in the crazy situation. He fiddled with his talons sheepishly, "Umm..." Peril felt the same, apart from being ten times more embarrassed. It wasn't like her to be clumsy, and of course, the one time she does get stuck in a hole in the ground, another dragonet is also there. However, this nervous looking MudWing might be her only way out, so she decided to talk. Someone had to be brave.

"Er... Hi, I'm Peril and I'm reaaally sorry for, um, crashing into your lovely study. I was hunting"-She struggled a little more- "And my stupid prey ran in here. I'm usually more carful but I'm having a pretty bad day and-" she sighed, this was getting so awkward. But it was also unbearably funny, and the priceless expression on the adorable stranger's face made it that much better. Peril began to chuckle a little, covering her mouth with one talon for she knew she looked like an idiot. She laughed even more when the MudWing started to laugh, a wonderful and happy sound. Peril hadn't felt this relaxed in forever, even with a complete stranger and suspended from a hole. They began to settle down and the MudWing smiled at her, looking much more relaxed, "I'm Clay and that's okay, I just don't know how we're gonna get you out"

She shrugged, blushing, and turned the name around in her head, _Clay._

 _Peril,_ a bit foreboding Clay would admit, but it was such a relief to finally put a name to the face he'd seen for so long. And he absolutely loved her laughter, however awkward it was.

"Well, can't you go outside and dig around me or something?" Peril asked

Clay winced, now the complicated explanations stared. "Well... I'm not allowed outside. I've been in these caves and tunnels my whole life"

Peril looked very confused, then very worried, "But I have to get out!" She panicked, "I have to sneak back to the Sky Kingdom to eat my black rocks or I might die!"

"Wait, wait, wait" Clay stopped her before she continued ranting, "You have to eat rocks? Gross! Who told you to do that?"

"Queen Scarlet" Peril answered quickly, then continued, "And eating roc-"

"QUEEN SCARLET?!", Clay usually didn't pay attention in history but he definitely remembered that horrible name. He looked up at her annoyed expression, trying to complete the puzzle of Peril in his head. "Peril, please don't tell me you're one of her soldiers! Scarlet is a very bad dragon!"

Peril snorted, rolling her eyes. "Those soldiers are clueless idiots and I would never become one of them."

Clay sighed in relief and his neck was beginning to hurt from craning it, they really needed to find a better way of talking. "Oh thank go-"

"I'm Her Majesty's _champion!_ And she's not so bad..." Peril frowned for a moment, then continued her argument (Though to Clay it looked very rehearsed), "She saved me as a little dragonet, I owe her my life," she said with an upside down nod. Clay took a moment to process this, "Oh..." He sighed sadly, peering curiously at Peril, not really sure what to say. All the Dragonets of Destiny had been taught, with much more passion from Kestrel than the other guardians, that Queen Scarlet is no better than Burn or Blister. And although Clay was a very young, and even more clumsy, dragonet, he was very intelligent. He could tell that Peril, even if she was that close to the queen, had her doubts.

"Peril...", Clay squeaked slowly, "Why did you really come here?"

Peril opened her mouth, then closed it and thought for a minute. She then did something Clay would've never expected from the mighty SkyWing: she started to cry. Her answer came out in sobs, "Well-well ever since I can remember I-I have killed Her Majesty's prisoners in the arena and I've never really let myself think of it as wrong because-well because" Peril's bottom lip trembled and Clay's heart broke, "BECAUSE IT'S THE ONLY THING I'M GOOD AT."

Clay looked frantically around the cave and finally saw in the dim light, a ledge near the crying Peril. _So that's what she meant by champion_ , Clay thought as he flew up to the ledge, his heart aching for the emotion-packed dragon. He couldn't imagine someone that beautiful, who could laugh and blush and be embarrassed, being grown up to kill others. And he certainly couldn't imagine _why._ A new, more personal anger ignited in Clay over the matter of Queen Scarlet, regardless of the fact that he had only just officially met Peril.Once on the ledge, Clay reached out a talon to comfort her, "Oh Peril... I am so sor-"

"CLAY NO!" Peril twisted away before Clay could rest his hand on her upside down shoulder. Clay jumped back, surprise and fear etched on his face. Peril buried her face in her hands and said, her high voice cracking, "I'm a monster, Clay...and I don't want to hurt anybody else."


	3. Chapter 3

In the entrance to the study, Clay peered around the dark hallways, making sure no one was following him. So far, about a week after Peril's crash, Clay had had a bit less trouble than he originally thought at keeping Peril hidden. Apparently no one willingly went into the study. Well, no one except Starflight, with whom Clay had been having the most difficulty. Even their history teacher Webs, though he had his own stash of scrolls in his cave, did not go into the study as much as Starflight. Clay had been able to persuade the Dragonets and Webs to have their lessons in the main cave with, surprisingly, little suspicion ("I just love the...water?"), offering to get the necessary scrolls himself, but with Starflight he had to be more careful. And, after all, Clay was not an especially good liar.

Nevertheless, every time Starflight came within a twenty-foot radius of the study, Clay loyally (To Peril) jumped in front of him. What usually came after was a "Wanna catch something to eat?" or "Can you come with me to swim?" followed by a nervous smile and gulp. Although the constant charade was making Clay extremely exhausted, he knew it was well worth it. Peril was now his friend, and until he found a way to get her free, keeping her hidden was the best bet. However, even an optimistic dragonet like Clay had to worry about what he would do when Peril remaining a secret no longer was an option.

Clay darted into the study precariously balancing a torch, a gauntlet of water, and half of a bull that he had managed to save in his room. He had rearranged some bookshelves in front of the SkyWing to provide a few extra moments of cover for her in case someone did enter the study. Clay weaved around them and was met with the sight of his lovely friend. There were also a couple stone bookshelves scooted under Peril so she could prop her elbows and not be in the constant limitation of hanging upside down.

As she had full-on dove into the sky hole, her wings were plastered against her body. Therefore, the tips of her wings met the chilling breeze above, the majority of them packed in the earth, and the front forewing shoulders were suspended in the cave. Whenever Peril tried to pull the enormous limbs into the study, she was met with excruciating pain. She knew that when she was free, it would be a while before she could fly again. Certainly, poor Peril's position was in no kingdom considered comfortable, but, as she mentioned several times to Clay, she's tough. She can handle it.

Clay had the sneaking suspicion that Peril thought she deserved it anyway. And really... who was the MudWing to tell her she was wrong? No, he told himself firmly, she is wrong. All the horrible things Peril ever did, she did them because she was forced to. Forced by Queen Scarlet. Clay mentally dropped the matter; regardless of what Peril was innocent or guilty of, it was Clay's duty as a friend to help her out of this sticky situation.

The SkyWing greeted Clay with a smile as he flew up to the ledge that had become the MudWing's spot when with Peril.

"Hi Peril."

"Hey Clay," they exchanged.

As they started conversing, Clay began to rip pieces of the bull off and throw them to Peril. When the pieces were caught, Peril would scarf them down before they burned to a crisp. At one point Clay handed over the gauntlet, which, upon further inspection, one would find severely damaged, and Peril drank down the generously cold water, giving it no time to boil.

It was all part of their recently developed cycle.

"So I still haven't been found out, huh?" Peril started.

Clay didn't say anything but shook his head in response.

Peril laughed unbelievingly, sapphire eyes wide with incomprehension. "Clay," she said, "either your friends are complete idiots or you are the luckiest dragon in all of Pyrrhia."

Honestly, Clay didn't think either option true, but he laughed anyway, going along with it. He loved cheering Peril up. "Well I definitely know you're not the luckiest dragon in all of Pyrrhia."

Peril huffed in amusement, but then shrugged her shoulders and looked at the ground, "...it could be worse," she admitted, a far-away gaze claiming her eyes, "it could be a lot worse..."

In the course of the past week, Peril had told Clay almost everything, that including the details of her firescales and black rocks (Clay had deduced that Scarlet had tricked her into relying on them so as to keep Peril on a leash. He was sure Peril had figured the same, but he didn't want to risk talking about it again). And in turn, Clay had told Peril that he was a Dragonet of Destiny, thus explaining why he, four friends of differing tribes, and three sticks in the mud lived underground.

It had taken a lot of talking on Clay's side to convince Peril that he was the MudWing the prophecy spoke of, and even now he wasn't 100% sure that she believed him. Nevertheless, Peril knew every aspect of a normal day for Clay, and vice versa. They understood each other and trusted each other. Although they had only been acquainted for the week, Clay knew more about Peril then Queen Scarlet had ever picked up, or anyone for that mater.

Therefore, Clay knew the first signs of a Peril breakdown when he saw them.

"Peril."

Her eyes fluttered to his but didn't stay long. She started to observe the room around her with panic that falsely alluded to seeing the place for the first time. Her increasing violent breaths caused her chest to scrape painfully against the rock, Clay could tell, and tears evaporated on her eyelids.

"Peril please look at me-calm down!" Clay pleaded.

The pain, however horrible, made her still, so as to cease it. She looked at him through slits in her lids, as if afraid of showing him too much.

"We've talked about this, Peril. Right now...we need to think-think about getting you out not...everything else." Clay knew what he wanted to say, but when he tried to, his tongue didn't seem to move fast enough; he couldn't get over the feeling that he sounded stupid beyond belief.

But Peril, though far from a NightWing, seemed on occasion to be able to read his mind. How else, Clay asked himself (but in not so many words), would she find comfort in his feeble attempts at it? But she did.

Peril nodded and opened her eyes to all their oceanic glory, blinking to calm herself all the way. "Focus on the present," said she, with a meditative inhale and exhale.

Clay chucked breathily and nodded, for he envied her ability to find proper words so effortlessly. He supposed it had something to do with being around royal dragons for the majority of her life.

And with words on his mind, after helping Peril eat the rest of the bull, Clay asked her if she would like him to read to her. They did this on occasion, and Peril enjoyed the distraction.

Clay picked a scroll that Glory would speak of from time to time, figuring it would be entertaining. It turned out to be a severely exaggerated take on the Prince Arctic affair of two millennia ago. The cheesy writing, coupled with the disgusted way Clay read the romantic bits, produced an experience that was very hilarious to Peril.

Her laughter echoed across the caverns, and did not go unnoticed.


End file.
